Incendiare
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Everything posted by Incendiare
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2011: Jacob's Ladder smells fantastic in the vial! It's very ambery and musky, due to the ambrette seed, I'm sure. Wet, it is pretty much the same, however, there is also a slight touch of rockrose, but it's not heady nor sharp. The labdanum also blends beautifully with the amber. Definitely a unisex blend. I like this more than last year's, since Jacob's Ladder '10 smelled drier, however, to me, this has a warm glow.
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2011: Mmm, Gelt. I always compare this one to Velvet because instead of sandalwood, it has golden amber, which, in my opinion, is a better match-up with the rich cocoa. 2011 isn't as cocoa-y as 2010's, though. This year's goes on a bit strangely. This is definitely heavier on the amber, and something about this reminds me of Indian stores in the area filled with a mixture of resins, soaps, and solid perfumes. The cocoa is so incredibly faint. This year's is actually very unique but personally, not bottle-worthy.
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Between the name and the pine note, I thought I was going to dislike this a lot more than I thought I would, but this actually smells extremely interesting in the vial. The orange blossom and green ivy help keep the pine under control. My skin amps the pine when I apply this to my skin, however. The orange blossom gets lost and instead, I can detect a hint of clary sage. After a few minutes, the musky ambrette seed even makes itself known and really enhances this blend. As Frost at Midnight dries down, it becomes a bit sweeter, but alas, my skin still amps the pine.
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I really wish this one would work for me since I always imagined this one to be a creamy spice with a shot of rum, but the only thing about this blend that, to me, resembles egg nog is the nutmeg. This otherwise has a weird plasticky undertone that I cannot get past. It also has very little throw. On me, it goes even more plasticky. That warm nutmeg disappears in minutes. Oh well.
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2011: I really wish this one would work for me since I always imagined this one to be a creamy spice with a shot of rum, but the only thing about this blend that, to me, resembles egg nog is the nutmeg. This otherwise has a weird plasticky undertone that I cannot get past. It also has very little throw. On me, it goes even more plasticky. That warm nutmeg disappears in minutes. Oh well.
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The snow note dominates right out of the vial, and it is blended with a citrusy note, kind of like lemon. Wet, the fresh lilies bloom. I have never been a fan of the snow note so this is an obvious pass for me, however, I will admit that the lily gives this an interesting twist.
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In the vial, I am automatically hit with a dry, wood note spiced up with some clove. Wet, the clove is more pronounced and the peach blends in with it. I unfortunately cannot detect any red musk, tobacco, and tonka. If you find a lot of the wood notes to be too dry, as a warning, the redwood takes over this blend. On the dry down, the black currant has peeks out a bit.
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Classic snow note that Beth tends to use in her wintery blends. In the vial, I can also detect a hint of pine in the background. This surprisingly goes a bit sweeter on me, however, the medicinal snowy note stays strong. Very cool and serene.
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2011: Sharper than last year's. In the vial, there's a nice warm glow of amber and fig. The pomegranate soon follows after the initial sniff. Wet, the pomegranate is more prominent, and so is the fig. This has a lighter throw and while it is a pleasant blend, it doesn't win my heart over enough to consider buying a bottle. I can see fig fans appreciating this one.
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This has that medicinal, snowy note up front in the vial, followed by a touch of currant. On me, an earthiness comes out,, which reminds me of patchouli, however, I lose the currant, and the medicinal quality stays strong. Very wintery but not for me.
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I wore Cake Smash last night since it's a favourite of mine and I rarely wear it. It made me feel even better when I was sitting on the bus surrounded by these girls wearing cheap commercial perfume.
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I couldn't resist Snow White today either. I'm pimping '07.
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As a person who generally doesn't get along with leather, I like this in the imp. The leather is subtle and I can detect a faint waft of oppoponax. It goes a bit wonky on me though. The leather is stronger and a sharp amber comes out. Better than I expected but still not for me.
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What a bizarre olfactory translation. Out of the bottle, it actually smelled like a vegetable. Kind of like a tomato, and it made me feel a bit sick. Luckily, it blossoms in the shower. The notes start to separate from each other and I can pick them out. First, the spiciness of the carnation starts to unfold, and is soon after accompanied by the black cherry. The carnation makes itself fully known after the oil sits on my skin for about a minute. After the shower, my room smelled more like cherries and strawberries. After a couple hours, the carnation is going strong on my skin, but the fruitiness is gone. At this point, there is also a hint of frankincense in the background. I'm really liking the end result.
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SSS smells spectacular in the bottle. It's so bright and sugary, and there's a sparkly fruity note in there too, like lemon. Things start to go wrong in the shower, though. Everything just sort of turns artificial. I can still smell the lemon on my skin. At this point, it is more like a lemon hard candy. The sugar goes a bit off though. It's almost stale. That sucks! I really thought this would be a hardcore winner, especially because it's awesome in the bottle and scents like these normally jive well with my skin chemistry. Aye, what can you do.
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In the bottle, CCB smells more chocolately than anything else. It reminds me of the 13 blends. I don't detect any shortbread nor cranberries. On me, the cranberry pops out and is accompanied by a hint of nose-tingling mint. It's lovely but not what I imagined.
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I'm actually kind of glad that I waited a year to review this because a year of aging has really changed this. Lab-fresh, it was like an orange-tangerine creamsicle. A lot like Huesos de Santo but more orangey and without the fennel. The pepper gave it a nice punch too. Plus, I normally hate vetiever and was absolutely delighted that it was nowhere in sight. Now, it's by far less orangey than a year ago and it's now on the drier side, possibly from the vetiver. Wet, it remains a bit stale and smoky with a touch of orange. As it's drying though, it's getting better in my opinion. The orange is making a comeback and reminds me of how it was a year ago, except there's a prominent dry note that wasn't there before. It's still nice, but now I'm glad that I didn't jump to buy a bottle.
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I wasn't really sure what to expect from this one, but it's damn good in the vial. It truly is like strawberry champagne, or a fruity wine cooler. You can even smell the bubbles. Wet, it goes even more champagne-y. After a few minutes, I can't even tell that this has strawberry in it anymore. Sadly, this is starting to smell like a chemical, almost like rubber cement. I have a feeling that it is the champagne note that's doing that on my skin. Oh well, there's always my scent locket.
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Red Lantern hits me with a gob of caramel and amber in the vial, although the amber is still far in the distance. On me, the caramel is even stronger. After a while, I can smell a tinge of coconut and a hint of opium. Somehow, this smells slightly soapy, but the caramel is still the dominant note. The tobacco joins the opium and tones down the strong caramel. I like it a lot more on me than in the vial. I used to think that I liked the smell of caramel, but I am beginning to think that maybe it's not something I like to necessarily smell like, so I'm very glad tobacco and opium are balancing out the immense sweetness. It's better than expected, but not bottle-worthy.
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White Chocolate, Strawberry, and White Pepper Truffle
Incendiare replied to thekittenkat's topic in Lupercalia
In the vial, the individual notes are quite apparent. I can pick out the sweet strawberry from the creamy white chocolate, and the pepper is there too. On me, though, the strawberry is a lot more tart, and I lose the white chocolate. The pepper hangs on in the background. This reminds me so much of a Skindazzles strawberry scent I had as a creamy shower soap years ago. It's a delicious, fun scent that I'll be looking forward to wear. -
I didn't have particularly good luck with the Weenies this time around, but I love Halloween: Las Vegas. This year's version of Boo is also nice. It's sugarier than last year. Don't think I'll get a bottle though. The only other one that I'll probably get a bottle of is Pumpkin Princess. It works great with my skin chemistry and come on, the label art is adorable. La Calavera Catrina, the Green Apple of Venus, and the Glittering Apple of the Stars are also beautiful, but don't think I'll need bottles of them.
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Honey Pumpkin Stout Bath Oil, with extreme emphasis on the Stout. Sniffing this from the bottle makes me feel a tad queasy. The stout is a bit too strong for my taste, however, the pumpkin smells very realistic in this, and there's a smokiness that follows right after. Taking this with me into a steamy shower was a little odd. It made me think of a hangover shower. Or when I used to rinse my hair with beer to give it shine. Once I stepped out of the shower, I smelled cinnamon off me, but it went away in a few minutes. Now on my skin, I'm left with a calmer version of what's in the bottle. Although I'm wimping out on this one, props to Puddin' for making this ridiculously realistic.
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My nose is playing tricks on me. The first few times I smelled this in the vial, I was ridiculously impressed by its relative lack of dryness compared to what I was expecting. Orris and white sandalwood initially set off warning bells that it was going to be far too dry for my liking. But smelling it again today, it's a different story. The white sandalwood is much more blatant, but it reminds me a lot of the white sandalwood in lab fresh Mouse's LAST. The moonflower is such a beautiful pairing with the dryness, though. For the record, I don't smell any apple in the vial. Wet though, the apple comes through and this turns juicier and not as dry. Kind of like how it smelled in the vial to my nose a few days ago. Along with the drying process comes the dryness of the orris and sandalwood again. But the apple is still hanging on. This is better than I expected but still not really for me.
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2011: I expected this to be gross, with the blood and barley and all. In the vial, it's not really that bad. There is something black liquoricey about this though. Like salty black liquorice, and behind that, frothy hoppy beer. On me, it's not much different. After a couple minutes, there's an unexplainable underlying floral. At first I thought it was lilac but I waited a couple more minutes and it's more prominently Dragon's Blood resin, if that's possible. That note is still buried underneath the saltiness liquorice I get from this. Together, they make final outcome a little on the so-called masculine side. It evokes images of leather work boots traipsing through a field.
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Very fruity pink in the vial, as if the fruits were blushing. I can sooner smell the strawberry than the apple. Wet, it's a yummy concoction of fruity candy and tea rose. It's tart, too. This is one of the ones I was looking forward to the most this season, and I am definitely not disappointed. Not sure if I would actually buy a bottle though, since it's not one I could see reaching for too often despite its loveliness.